


happy

by adamantine



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-15 14:46:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7226731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adamantine/pseuds/adamantine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for Bonus Round 2 of SASO 2016. The prompt was the <a href="https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/13854.html?thread=5272350#cmt5272350">Lori winking at Haru and Rin scene</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	happy

“Rin, I’m so glad you could make it. How’s Haru?” Rin’s former host mom, Lori, smiled at him as she opened the door. He was used to Haru’s name being one of the first words she uttered whenever he stopped by to see her. At times it seemed like Haru was her former host son, not Rin. _What’s Haru been up to? Have you spoken to Haru lately?_ _When is Haru coming to Australia to see me again?_

“He’s fine. His times improved again.” Rin tried to sound annoyed — Haru had passed his times, _again_ — but in reality he was impressed. Haru was a monster. His potential was limitless. Every time Rin would think he’d caught up with Haru, he’d found out Haru had improved too. It filled him with excitement. He itched to race Haru in person. Their times were always more terrifying when they were racing each other. He wanted to shatter records with Haru.

“Glad to hear it.” There was a twinkle in Lori’s eyes as she ushered him into the house, as though she could tell what he was thinking. “I made steak.”

Lori had invited him over for dinner while Russell was away on a business trip. Rin was more than happy to keep her company. There was only one problem. Lately, she’d been asking about Haru more... _pointedly_ , giving him knowing looks, even winking at him a few times. He suspected the only reason she hadn’t outright asked about his feelings for Haru was because of Russell. His obliviousness was the perfect shield for Rin to hide behind. He would ask Rin about the girls he’d met and Rin would awkwardly laugh and say he was too focused on swimming for romance. Lori never fell for his deflections. He couldn’t even remember the last time she’d asked him about girls, if she ever had.

Rin set the table while Lori brought out the food. They made small talk. They complained about the weather a bit — too hot, as usual — and there was a new sporting goods store that was opening nearby that Rin might be interested in. Rin told her how university was going, how swimming was going. He avoided talking about Haru, which was difficult, but he managed somehow. If he gave her an opening he was sure she would seize it, and he didn’t want that. It didn’t matter how much she kept hinting that she already knew, a part of him was still sure she hadn’t noticed and that he’d be making a fool of himself or worse if he brought up that he was dating Haru. No, it was better to avoid talking about it forever.

“How’s the steak?” Lori asked.

“It’s delicious.” Lori’s steak was his favorite. She’d actually been the one to teach him how to prepare it, but his own steak still wasn’t as good as her’s. “I—“ He was cut off by the familiar sounds of his ringtone, happily announcing he was getting a phone call.

“Don’t miss a call on my account,” Lori said.

Rin nervously pulled his phone out of his pocket. It could have been anyone really — a classmate, a teammate, his mom, Gou, Sousuke, Rei — that was calling him. He was a social person with many friends.

It was Haru.

“Hey,” he said, thankful Lori didn’t speak Japanese. As far as she knew, he was talking to one his many other friends that weren’t Haru.

“Hi.” Haru’s voice rang through him. He was filled with longing. He could picture Haru, at home in his dingy apartment, blue eyes shining as he unpacked his groceries.

“I’m at Lori’s. What’s up?”

“I wanted to hear your voice,” Haru said, not a hint of shame behind his words. Rin closed his eyes, pretending for a moment Haru was there beside him. “Is it a bad time?”

“Probably.” _Yes_ , Rin should have said, but he couldn’t. He wanted to hear Haru’s voice too. Their schedules were hectic. He couldn’t talk to Haru nearly as much as he wanted. The difference in time zones was just enough to be annoying, always keeping them out of sync.

“Mmm. When will you get home? I’ll be online.” Rin perked up. That meant he’d have a chance to see Haru, not just hear him.

“Soon. At most an hour.” He didn’t care if he had to run home to make it in time.

“Okay. I’ll be waiting.” Haru hung up without waiting for his response.

“What did Haru want?” Lori asked, startling him. He’d forgotten she was still there. Staring at him. Holding back a smile, but failing.

“That was—that wasn’t Haru. That was my mom.” Even Russell would have seen through that lie.

Lori laughed. “Oh, please. Only Haru brings out that expression on you.”

Rin tensed. What expression did he have on? He felt his face self-consciously, suddenly worried everyone could tell when he was thinking about Haru. That would be very, very embarrassing.

“I don’t mean to tease you,” she said, noticing his discomfort. “I’m just glad to see you looking so happy. Not like before.”

His eyes widened. He’d thought he’d done a great job of faking happiness around Russell and Lori but they’d seen right through him. Lori especially; she seemed to understand his feelings even when he didn’t. He felt thankful for her in a way he hadn’t before. Did he really look happy when he was talking to Haru? Strangely, it was a new idea to him. Haru angered him, irritated him, impressed him, inspired him, pushed him, drove him. His emotions around Haru always felt so _loud_. He hadn’t associated something as quiet as happiness with Haru, but now that Lori had said it, it felt right, it felt obvious. Of course he was happy.

“You can talk to me about anything, you know.” Lori smiled at him, the warm smile of a parent, someone who loved him unconditionally and accepted him for who he was.

“I like Haru. A lot.” No surprise registered on her face. There had been nothing to be afraid of. It made him all the more glad she’d given him the chance to say it for himself, instead of pulling it out of him before he was ready.

“Have you told him that yet?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Don’t forget to invite me to the wedding.” She winked.

Rin groaned, the groan of a child embarrassed by their parent. “I didn’t even tell you if he likes me back.” He felt like twelve years old instead of almost twenty.

“Of course he does. What’s not like? You’re a wonderful young man with—”

“Lori!” He stopped her before she could embarrass him any further. “When did you figure out I liked him, anyway?” It felt important to know.

“Oh, love. The first time you talked about him it was obvious he was someone special to you. I didn’t realize how special though until you were older and no one else ever caught your eye quite the same way.”

Rin’s face heated up in mortification. He felt like crawling into a hole. It was incredible really, how much his younger self still managed to embarrass him. But as embarrassing as it was to talk about his love life with the person who was essentially his second mom, it felt good not having to hide that part of himself. Lori was the first and only person this side of the ocean to know about him and Haru, and it was freeing. He felt more like himself. His feelings for Haru were such a big part of his life that the people who didn’t know about them could never really know him in the first place. He was suddenly overcome with emotion as he realized he could tell Haru later that Lori _knew_ , and that she was happy for them. It was such a little thing, yet it made him want to cry.

“Thank you, Lori,” he said, struggling to keep it together.

“For what?”

“For waiting until I was ready to tell you.”

“Ah.” She looked a little embarrassed as she spoke. ”I’m sorry if my hints were a little much. I just wanted you to know it was okay to tell me.”

Rin snickered. “They really were a bit much.” He smiled, his heart light.


End file.
